Gerard Gallant met with the media following the win over Vegas and said (MSG, NYR):
- On the game, “yea, no, there was a lot of good, but Jaro had to make some unbelievable saves, again, for us tonight on some of those opportunities. It was a good game, back and forth and fortunately we got the 2-0 lead. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a good, solid game for us, we played against a good team and it was a big win for our group.”
- On Halak, “I think he’s one of those guys that gets better with time. Training camp didn’t go great, he’s 37-years old, it wasn’t great and the first part of the season he couldn’t buy a win and we didn’t score enough goals for him and lately he’s been outstanding. Tonight’s game he made 3-4 key saves when it was 2-0, 2-1. He was huge for us and that is what you need, good experienced guy that comes in and plays like that.”
- On where the team is at going into the break, “I’m happy with where we are at. Since the last break, I don’t know what our record is, but it seems pretty good. We played well, haven’t played perfect like we did last year at times, but we are still finding ways to win hockey games. It’s coming, it’s a work in progress for us, but I like the position we are at and the way we are playing.”
- Is everything okay with Igor and was this just about getting Halak a game, “Everything is fine. Two goalies and he’s played well, hasn’t he won five in a row?”
- He said that it was his first home win, “perfect, we needed that.”
- So this was part of the plan, “that was the plan, that was the plan, Benny makes the plan and he asks me and we look at it and say ‘this is what it is.’ It’s a good break, going to be a good break for our goaltender obviously with Shesty going to the All-Star game. It’s a good break and we want guys fresh and the break is at a perfect time for us.”
- On the Trocheck line, “I really like their game tonight, they played strong. Troch was real strong defensively in our zone, I like the way that line played tonight, real good.”
- On Will Cuylle fighting, “he fought a tough guy, but he did pretty well, so good for him. He came up and played two games, pretty exciting for a young 21-year old to come up and do that and then be challenged by the guy and fight, Kolesar is a tough kid, I had him in Vegas. He did a great job, it was probably an even fight, good for him.”